It’s been a while since I wrote about biracial issues. It’s going to be a quiet ride until Twilli starts interacting with school age children. Most of what I’ve written has been about my own awakening and mostly 2nd hand accounts.

Maybe I’m blissfully ignorant of these issues. I prefer to think that the people we have encountered just might be open-minded enough to accept our child as she is without casting her in a freakshow role.

Last weekend, I spied a rummage sale at a nearby church. It happened to be the Korean Assembly of God church. I’m still very whitewashed and my religious beliefs are not in alignment with AOG, so I don’t give it much thought.

I didn’t like what I read about how hapas are treated in the Korean community. Now I have first-hand experience to report, and it is favorable.

As we approached the rummage sale, my guard was up. Religious outreach efforts by Koreans have been made toward me in the past by various groups, but the language barrier stopped them in their tracks.

I’d say it was an average reception. Not everyone is going to dote on a baby, no matter how cute she is. A few women lit up. One woman even remarked, “Asian genes are so strong!” Another lady was being assertive, trying to sell us a toy that was clearly outside of her age range. It was around noon, and you know what noontime means for rummage sales. Frugal tip here. Sometimes, you can score deals at the end of a garage sale. This is stuff people don’t want anymore.

Overall, I sensed no disdain for this mixed-race child. Maybe people have come around.

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Special Thanks To…

A combined effort between Frugal Dad, Parent Hacks, and StumbleUpon users helped drive a tremendous traffic surge to my recent post on How to Prepare for a Baby’s Arrival on a Budget. As a result of this one surge, regular daily traffic and RSS subscriptions are on an upward trend.

Heather at Geek Mom Mashup was kind enough to provide a guest post last week. I enjoyed the entire process of asking, receiving, and doing the graphic illustration for it. I also got some fresh eyeballs on me. After moderating a few comments, I realized that I never actually made an official glossary entry (or a glossary for that matter) for “hapa.” A hapa is someone who is of partial Asian descent.

It’s also nice to see some unsolicited links from My Mama Drama and Found Not Lost. Thanks!

A Surge In Posting Frequency

Some of you may have noticed my posting frequency has increased lately. I even had time to help out Renee and write a post over there. 50 hours suddenly opened up in my schedule each week. The full time job turned out to be a temporary thing.

Embracing Journalism

David Hobby, photojournalist turned blogger, was the final boot-to-butt convergence that turned me into a blogger. I’ve become more of a photojournalist than I thought I would. It became obvious to me at the babywearing meeting. I took some photos, but I wish I took more photos and better photos.

I found a great ebook called Journalism 2.0: How to Survive and Thrive. It’s actually a great Web 2.0 primer. Journalism 2.0 and Web 2.0 are inextricably linked. Some might argue that they are one. There’s always something to learn. I’m up to about Web 1.76 now. I may never become a full 2.0 since I’m on instant messenger about 4 hours per year.

Download it. It’s totally worth reading if you’re a blogger, or just want to shore up on Web 2.0.

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The following is a guest post from Heather Weaver, a.k.a. “Geek Mom.”

Growing up “hapa” in the Midwestern United States in the 70s and 80s was not much different than growing up white, I think… I spent my youth in the macaroni and cheese, potato salad, extra-mild salsa part of the country. We ate Japanese food frequently, but I figured that was pretty normal.

As a half-Japanese girl who looked more Caucasian than Japanese, most people couldn’t really tell I was hapa, unless they knew my family, or happened to see my middle name, Midori.

I think that was a unique situation to be in. I didn’t really look any different, so I was perceived as white by strangers. Unlike my father, who is Japanese — and looks Japanese — people did not usually judge me by my ethnicity.

Although he does not talk about his experiences with discrimination much, I know that my dad has dealt with it throughout his life. As a young boy, he spent World War 2 in an internment camp with his family. His little brother, my uncle, was born in that camp in Arizona. It really wasn’t that long ago, if you think about it. My dad is only 67 years old.

My father’s experience is in stark contrast with my own. I have had the power of disclosing my ethnicity by choice, most of the time. It’s not that I’m ashamed of being hapa, or afraid of being recognized as such. I love my Japanese heritage! It’s just that since most people can’t tell, it’s usually up to me to decide who finds out, and when. Kind of like a superhero with a secret identity — I’m Hapa Girl!

• Able to make perfectly steamed white rice without a measuring cup!
• Able to speak English without a foreign accent!
• Able to use chopsticks without making a mess!

Okay, so that’s kind of silly. But when I stop and think about easy my life has been, compared to the way my father grew up, I feel so lucky to be hapa. It has really been a blessing of the “best of both worlds.” I’m not sure how to express it without sounding corny or trite. I’m truly happy to be hapa!

——–

I wanted to get a first-hand perspective from another hapa, so I called upon Heather (a.ka. Geek Mom) for some help. The only other hapa I know isn’t much of a computer user. However, she has managed to type, “34kldflkj4toicv dsf09u4 tljkvda” and things like that.

You can find more of Heather’s writing at her blogs, Geek Mom Mashup and Sugar and Sweets. As if she doesn’t have her hands full enough with 3 children, 2 blogs, a husband, and an internet addiction, she blogs at Posh Mama and finds a spare moment to make unique hand-made gifts.